the location

I grew up as a forest kid. I was the child who wandered the woods with friends. i never got poison oak even though my 'city friends' would be out of school for days after playing at my house (sorry jennifer phalen).

when i was looking for a place to be wed i instantly thought of a little spot in the middle of the redwoods at Bethany University . The redwood bowl needed some work and I started writing emails asking to trade work on the outdoor auditorium for use of the site. After a few emails and a meet I realized that I know the coordinator from Bethany! He gave it to us for free and my incredible pops worked hours and hours to make it look beautiful.

The Redwood Bowl was

amazing and truly magical. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful spot. A breeze blew right in the middle of a gorgeous song from candace and josh and it was like God was raining down leaves of blessing on us. I'll never forget it.

the dress

ok let's start with this wedding business! there were lots of miracles leading up to being engaged including a great deal on a beautiful ring but let's start with the dress.

When I started making the "I'M ENGAGED!!" calls I had friends offer their wedding dresses to me. I knew that I was going to have to make this wedding low budget but I didn't want to settle for any old dress. My amazing friend Sarah Mc insisted I at least go try on her duplicate dress at David's Bridal. I brought my lovely friend Jen and made sure she knew this wasn't going to be a tear fest. I told her this was not like the movies... i was not going to allow lots of gush and talks of magical white tulle. When we arrived in David's Bridal the 17 year old attendant was giddy with excitement... she made me pick out some nasty white 'lady of the night' shoes and had me look through the thousands of dresses for the perfect one. I told her i'd try on 3 but one of them had to be the exact one Sarah had in Cali. When I finally got to sarah's dress i walked out looked at jen and said "um yeah, this works" she replied calmly, "yep, that's the one." I think the attendant was in shock the rest of the day. who decides on a dress that quickly?! and who gets a wedding dress for free dollars!?! me.

here's the dress that fit perfectly! thank you sarah!!

biggest miracle of all!

Let's start with the biggest miracle of all in the last year.

Aaron Andrew Espe

He is kind, godly, giving, fun, and straight up amazing. i can't believe i married such a catch. miracle.

blog it up

I've decided I can't hold it in any longer! I am joining the blogging world! God does so many miracles in my life and I need to share it. I'm going to start off blogging about my wedding miracles and then we'll see where it goes from there. thanks for stopping by!